Municipal Bonds

From Municipalbonds.com, learn about
The 5 elements of a municipal bond trade:

Maturity, Interest Rate, $ Amount, Price, and Yield

http://www.municipalbonds.com/2009/01/20/the-5-components-of-a-municipal-bond-investment/

Types of business structures

From CNN Money, learn about the types of business tax structures
and the similarities and differences between them:

LLP, LLC, S-corp, C-corp, GP and LP

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/30/smallbusiness/business_structures_101.fsb/index.htm

WSJ "Don't Get Scammed"

In the Wall Street Journal Article, "Laws Take On Financial Scams Against Seniors,"
the WSJ writes that many states are passing harsher penalties for "financial advisers" who sell financially dangerous investments to unknowing seniors.
Hidden in the article is a great list of rules to live by if you don't want to get scammed.
They include:

• Know the Investment risks
• Cost to purchase, ongoing cost
• Liquidity of investment
• Surrender charges
• Suitability of investor
• Investment regulation
• Leave, if can't get answers

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124269210323932723.html

Are You Worth More Than Michael Jackson?

We need to learn financial lessons from tragedy.
The Wall street Journal reports that Michael Jackson had reported debts of $500,000,000, and assets of $500,000,000 to $1 billion (before lawyers, accountants, and taxes).

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/06/26/what-is-michael-jacksons-estate-worth/

There is a difference between Net Worth and Net Income.
Unfortunately, society promotes people who have high net incomes (and what they buy with that income), even though they may spend all of, or more than they earn.

Instead, we should emulate people that have high net worths relative to what they earn and how much they save out of what they earn.

Do you have a greater net worth than Michael Jackson relative to your income?

Trump / Kiyosaki Videos

Check out the following, free, Trump / Kiyosaki videos: 

• Adversity  
  
• Art of the Deal
• The Power of Debt
• Increase Your Financial IQ
• Keys to Success
• Respect

It is refreshing to hear the insights of these financial literacy educators.  

http://www.richdad.com/RichDad/trump_kiyosaki3.aspx?utm_campaign=New%20Exclusive%20Trump/Kiyosaki%20Videos&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=Watch%20the%20videos%20now.

Who can you blame for the financial crisis?

Time Magazine has identified 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.

Note that these people were supposed to be some of the smartest and best educated in the US. But their mistakes indicate that they did not have common financial sense, or they chose to personally profit by (mis)using it.

The article does not mention how much money they have made from their decisions and that they will not have to pay back this money even though they brought down the financial system and helped bankrupt their companies.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350,00.html

Lessons Learned From Madoff Fraud

The Wall Street Journal gives a listing of very prominent banks, investment funds, and rich investors who lost millions (sometimes billions) from Madoff's fraud:
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_madoff_victims_20081215.html

You should learn the following lessons from this fraud (and be better than these investors who didn't adhere to the following advice):

1. Never invest in something or someone just because of name recognition.

2. Always investigate for yourself if something is too good to be true.

3. Double, triple check. Get more than one opinion. Never trust just one advisor (broker, lawyer, accountant).

4. Never assume that just because a person has a degree/or is a specialist that they are competent, or have your best interest in mind.

5. Never assume that the specialist has done the correct planning/paperwork/advice for you.
Investigate for yourself what needs to be done.

6. For the average investor- Diversify, never invest a majority, or even a large minority, of your assets with one person, fund, stock, or company stock.

7. Most importantly, understand what you are investing in, or what you are doing at the advise of a broker/lawyer/accountant. If you don't understand it either: educate yourself about it, or don't go through with it.

Dave Ramsey Built His Business from Nothing

See this classic article on how Dave Ramsey built his business from nothing:

http://ftp.media.radcity.net/ZMST/daily/IS032405.pdf

Notice a few key traits that make Ramsey successful:

• He has a willingness to learn from mistakes.
• He approaches things from a blank slate, beginner mentality. He asks lots of questions and learns a lot.

See the history of Dave Ramsey's company, The Lampo Group Inc., here:

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/index.cfm?intContentID=2797

Lesson from Robert Kiyosaki: Assets Can Make Your Dreams Come True

The story behind Kiyosaki's new book with his sister, Rich Brother, Rich Sister: Two Different Paths to God, Money and Happiness, demonstrates how Robert Kiyosaki lives by the message he teaches.

With his sister in financial trouble, the renown author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad did not pay all of his sister's bills. He created an asset with his sister, a book. This answer can be the lifeline with her current problems. It can also help her fulfill her other dreams. Robert Kiyosaki's pitch to his sister captures the possibilities: "We'll promote the book on a world tour. Eventually, you can start your own book series. I can see the titles now: Karma. Reincarnation. Compassion."

Read the rest of the story here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-beliefs9-2009feb09,0,1589137.story

Technical Finance Vocabulary

Confused about the increasingly complex vocabulary that you heard in the news?
Have you heard technical terms on the news and want to know what their importance are?
Become more educated about what is causing the current financial crisis.

http://www.riskglossary.com/link_letter/link_a.htm

In the end, it's your money. So, the onus is on you to educate yourself about money.

A NY Times article -- "The 17th Floor, Where Wealth Went to Vanish" -- talks about a Ponzi scheme run by Bernard L. Madoff, which let to losses of around $50 billion for investors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/business/15madoff.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Large banks and other firms entrusted their clients' money with Mr. Madoff: "Scrutiny is also falling on the many banks and money managers who helped steer clients to Mr. Madoff and now say they are among his victims."

It will be interesting to see what the investigation of Mr. Madoff unfolds, but there are three important lessons at the outset:

• Too many people, including wealthy people, lack financial literacy. They readily entrust their wealth to others, including large financial institutions, to manage it for them. If you work hard to make the money, you should work hard to preserve it. The onus is on you to educate yourself -- to gain financial literacy -- and to do due diligence about the people and institutions that are supposed to help you preserve and grow your money.
• If you don't gain financial literacy, you expose yourself and your friends to schemers.
• Don't trust all professionals! Professionals are made equal. Just because a professional has a degree or works for a large institution doesn't mean they have your best interest at heart.

Onecle Sample Contracts

Onecle is a great reference tool that has real world business contracts listed by category.
You can find actual contract SEC filings from such categories as: bankruptcy, separation agreements, consulting, credit, leases, benefit plans, compensation plans, franchise, proxy filing, promissory notes, stock agreements, severance, stock options, tax, etc.

This is a good reference learning tool because it is from real life contracts not sample documents.

http://www.onecle.com/

BankRate Glossary

Don't know a financial term that you heard in conversation or on the news? Look it up here. Info about credit, auto loans, atms, insurance, investing, iras, mortgages, small business, taxes.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/defhome.asp

Learn MBA Topics For Free

You can learn topics such as: accouting, economics, finance, management, marketing, operations, etc. Here you will find quick summary entries to complex topics. The topic entries are written for the more general reader.
http://www.quickmba.com/

Legal Topics / Vocab

Here you can find out information about different legal topics.
You can learn about the current regulations and laws such as: accident, criminal, estate, family, labor, real estate, bankruptcy, financial, legal, etc. This website offers legal information on various topics all in one place and it also gives important definitions for legal vocabulary terms.
http://business-law.freeadvice.com/all_topics.php